On the eve of National Aboriginal Day and two years after the Sask. Party committed to apologize for Saskatchewan’s role in the Sixties Scoop, the NDP is renewing the call for the Sask. Party to finally keep their promise to Indigenous peoples and Sixties Scoop survivors.
NDP calls on Sask. Party to finally apologize for Sixties Scoop
“For two years, whenever we’ve called on the Sask. Party to keep their promise, all we get are more and more excuses,” said NDP First Nations and Métis Relations Critic Buckley Belanger. “In Saskatchewan, the Sixties Scoop ripped families and communities apart. This apology is long overdue. It obviously won’t heal the deep wounds created by the Sixties Scoop but, done well, an apology would be a meaningful first step on the path toward reconciliation.”
During the Sixties Scoop First Nations and Métis children were taken from their parents without consent and placed in non-Aboriginal households. Parents were typically not told where their children were. Saskatchewan formally participated in the Sixties Scoop from 1966 to 1975.
“We can’t expect individuals, families and communities to heal if we don’t address the trauma that the Sixties Scoop has caused,” Belanger said. “The Sask. Party committed to an apology and they claim to be committed to reconciliation. They need to keep their promise, drop the excuses and formally apologize.”